Ganga Mahotsav

Ganga Mahotsav is a grand festival of India celebrated at Sant Ravidas Ghat on the banks of Holy River Ganga as the river flows through Varanasi. This celebration is conducted from ‘Prabodhini Ekadasi’ day to ‘Kartik Poornima’ day according to Hindu lunar Calendar every year.

This festival goes for 5 days during which time long carnival is conducted offering vibrant platform to bring together countries finest items of craft and culture, for exhibiting and selling to the avid collectors of handicraft coming from all over the world. Although primarily, this festival is organized to honor Ganga Mata and to encourage craftsmen to trade their articles, this festival has now gained much importance as a major event of tourism in Uttar Pradesh State of India.

The Mahotsav carries religious and mythological sentiments too. The day of starting Prabodhini Ekadasi is the day when Lord Vishnu raises from his sleep referred as Chaturmasya and ends with the full moon day of the month Karthik, which is the day of Diwali for Deities, called Dev Deepavali. This celebration is conducted every year during the month of November, dates varying according to Hindu calendar year to year and it is a spectacular event for everyone to witness and enjoy.

Significance

The mythological significance forms the base for organizing Ganga Mahotsav, as it is widely believed that Mother Ganga offers space for the Gods to descend and have bath in her waters during Dev Deepavali, which occurs on the full moon day of the month Karthik.

Deepavali is the festival lights celebrated in India by Hindus. Lighting small lamps and decorating homes with those light is the significant feature of that festival. In accordance with this principle, Dev Deepavali is also celebrated by floating millions of earthen lamps (diyas) and pleasing Gods.

Hindu rituals are also followed on this occasion, for performing which a number of priests would be available at various ghats of the river, sitting with their traditional forehead marks for visitors to easily identify them.

Celebration of Ganga Mahotsav

The main feature of the Ganga Mahotsav festival is lighting and floating of ‘diyas’ (lamps) in the River Ganga, which gives a spectacular view to the people standing at the banks of the river. Some people would get into the waters to float the lamps as they proceed upto the approachable distance.

Every Ghat at Varanasi will be adorned with this picturesque beauty and along with the Vedic recitals rendered by the priests and pundits of the City.

Ardent devotees take a holy dip during this occasion. There are few other features that are special on this day. Surya Namaskar, that is offering prayers to Sun God in a particular form, is followed as a ritual on this day by many. Likewise, there is another event called Tulsi Salgram Sill marriage, which is very popular involving these two sacred items of Hindus, one the sacred basil leaves and the other Sacred Stones obtained from Gantaki River in Nepal as representation of deities.

The Holy Basil known as Tulsi is closely associated with the Shila worship, on the belief that Goddess Lakshmi was once cursed to be this leaf, destined to be on earth because of it and the Lord Vishnu picks her up by standing on the banks of Gantaki River in the form of Shalagramasila. During Ganga Mahotsav celebration in Varanasi, the marriage of Tulsi with Shalagramasila is of great importance.

Ganga Mahotsav is also enriched by the National Crafts Fair organized here for 10 continuous days adding to the vibrancy of this sacred festival in India. The craftsmen from all parts of the country come to Varanasi to participate in this fair to exhibit their incredibly crafted items.

The typical form of celebrations apart from lighting lamps in the festival will be something like this, while prominent and popular artistes will be invited to do the cultural programmes of music, dance, discourses etc.

On the first day of the Ganga Mahotsav, traditional games start from 7 am with a Ganga Marathon Race and Patangbazi, a kind of kite show, starting from 10 am and continuing till 3 pm on the following day. Cultural celebrations also will start from 8 pm on the first day.

On the second day, apart from the Patangbazi, there will be presentations such as Indian wrestling starting from 11 am continuing till 4 pm. The cultural events start at 8 pm.
The third day of the festival starts with traditional sports events like Gada, Jodi and Malkhamb which goes up to 3 pm and like previous days cultural programmes start at 8.00 pm.

On the last day of the festival, Gahrebazi will be held from 2 pm with the cultural programmes following and the festival concluded with that.

How to Reach Ganga Mahotsav location

Varanasi is a popular location in India which is reachable by air, rail and road. Varanasi has a busy airport and Railway junction connection all destinations. As for the road travel, the city is linked to Major National Highways.